"It's been a difficult year with some good results and some bad but the boys have worked incredibly hard," said Dragons Academy manager James Chapron.

"We've used a large squad but the management team of Bryon Hayward, Rob Sidoli, Lewis Evans, Dai Flanagan and Angie Prangell have done a great job because we have 10 first-year under-18s and that's really positive ahead of next year.

"The Blues are a very good side and will no doubt make some changes from midweek but the boys can take a lot of confidence from what was a superb performance."